From isolated partnerships to a shared approach to engagement
Client: University of Groningen (RUG)
Years: 2024
The challenge
The University of Groningen was strengthening its focus on societal impact, regional development, and mission-driven collaboration. While many teams across the university were actively engaging external stakeholders, partnership development often happened within individual units, making it difficult to build a coordinated, institution-wide approach. The university wanted to strengthen capabilities, align practices, and establish a more strategic framework for developing long-term partnerships.
The UIIN approach
In 2024, UIIN designed and delivered a tailored onsite programme for staff working across research, impact, engagement, alliances, and valorisation functions, focusing on:
- Mission-driven partnership development
- Multi-actor collaboration across sectors and disciplines
- Innovation ecosystem building and regional engagement
- Developing a shared institutional approach to strategic partnerships
The programme combined practical workshops, international examples, and collaborative discussions centred on real institutional challenges.
What We Found
Many of the ingredients for successful engagement already existed across the university. The challenge was not a lack of activity, but the need for a common process, shared language, and stronger coordination across teams responsible for building and supporting partnerships.
The Outcome
✓ Greater alignment around partnership development across university functions
✓ Stronger capabilities in stakeholder engagement and alliance building
✓ A shared understanding of mission-driven and multi-actor partnerships
✓ New momentum for institution-wide collaboration on engagement and impact activities
✓ A foundation for more strategic and sustainable external partnerships
Key Lesson
Universities rarely struggle because they lack partnerships. More often, they struggle because partnership activity is distributed across many teams. Creating a shared process and common approach can unlock far greater institutional impact than adding new initiatives alone.
Client Reflection
“Having an external facilitator to guide us through a process and structure really helped us to come together around a new process and approach, leading to a working group that has already delivered significant progress”.
— Richard Rushby, Head of Incubator, University of Groningen
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